Banking Stocks Pull Indices Lower; Sensex Holds 28,000 Points

Banking stocks pulled the benchmark indices lower, after a solid rally seen through the week, in which the Sensex and the Nifty scaled new 52-week highs. The Sensex ended the day lower by 148 points, while the Nifty dropped 27 points in trade.

Leading the set of losers from the Nifty was ICICI Bank, which dropped sharply ahead of its quarterly numbers.

Other PSU Banking stocks also saw a sharp fall. Shares in Punjab National Bank fell as much as 4 per cent, after the bank reported a poor set of quarterly numbers. Canara Bank, which also saw good buying support in the last few weeks also fell 3 per cent in trade.

Oil and gas exploration stocks fell after crude prices dropped globally, following worries over demand. Pharma stocks were seeing some good buying support with Lupin, Cipla and Sun Pharma among the gainers. Other notable gainers were Bajaj Auto and Tata Steel.

Shares in Reliance Infrastructure was among the shares that were in the limelight after reports that Brookfields, is the front runner to buy Reliance Infrastructure's 11 road assets. The stock was up 5 per cent in trade.

Shares in Kansai Nerolac jumped after the company Q1 net profit was up 34.6 per cent at Rs 126.5 crores vs Rs 94 crores.